Marie Macklin makes 'emotional' decision to step back
Scottish entrepreneur Marie Macklin has made the “emotional” decision to step back from her award-winning Halo business hub in her hometown of Kilmarnock, as she looks to raise capital for the next phase of its development.
Ms Macklin developed the Halo project on a site vacated by Diageo following its controversial decision to shut down its Johnnie Walker bottling plant 15 years ago. The finance and property development guru was heavily involved in the campaign to save the plant and hundreds of jobs, but switched her attention to plans to regenerate the site when it became clear the Scotch whisky giant would not be changing its mind.
Ms Macklin negotiated the purchase of the town-centre site over several years and began the gradual process of creating Halo. Today, the 28-acre site includes a sustainable innovation and enterprise centre, with a £95 million masterplan in place to provide more than 200 homes, premises for light industry, and green spaces for community leisure which is forecast to create £200 million of GDP and support 1,500 jobs.
Read full article by Deputy Business Editor, Scott Wright. Published in The Herald. 26th June 2024.